


A Touch of Unfamiliarity

by SleepyWoofles



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, give Essek find familiar or i will riot, i promise this is better than my ability to write summaries makes it seem, like one time joke because i forget Essek is a gravity wizard and not a time wizard, no thoughts just gay wizards, there's just something so intimate about teaching someone to summon a fey cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25775485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyWoofles/pseuds/SleepyWoofles
Summary: Essek claims to have no use for Find Familiar. Caleb asks him to reconsider, and when has Caleb been wrong, really?
Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 4
Kudos: 137





	A Touch of Unfamiliarity

“So you have never learned the spell then?” Caleb asks quietly, setting a book in front of him in a way that seemed very intentionally to draw attention. 

Essek sighs to himself, shaking his head. The spell in question being Find Familiar, something he had neither the time nor materials to spare even if he had taken the time to copy the spell into his own spellbook. “No, I haven’t. I have no need for it, and thus there has never been a point for me to write it down.”

Caleb simply hums in response, though Essek certainly notices his subtle snap, and is smart enough to make the connection when Frumpkin comes to sit in his lap a few seconds later. Essek opens his mouth to comment on it, though Caleb interrupts before he gets a chance. “Could you make sure I have this right? We, uh, there was a scroll Jester found while we were out.” 

Essek nods, and holds out a hand to see the scroll. Caleb jokingly offers his own hand instead, to which Essek responds with a tiny smile. Caleb places the scroll in his hands, hesitating for a second before letting go. “Just.. consider what I said,  _ ja? _ About a familiar, I mean.”

He finds it hard to say “no” when Caleb is looking him in the eye. He still firmly believes that he has no use for a familiar, but he says “I’ll think about it.” 

-

Essek sits in his room, a place he rarely sees if he’s being quite honest, thinking to himself and going over his books. 

He can’t seem to shake a pair of pale blue eyes from his mind. An awkward half-smile in an attempt to persuade him. He hates that it’s working. 

There’s a slight pull of magical energy in his thoughts, and he sighs as he recognizes it and prepares for the worst. 

“Heeey, Essek,” Jester’s voice comes through, Essek starts counting the words until it’s over, “we were going to have dinner here at the Xhorhaus, would you like to come over? We already miss you a whole lot!” 

“You’ve gotten better about staying on topic.” Essek comments, remembering the last message he got from Jester and shivering the slightest bit. “I’m… busy at the moment, but I’ll see what I can do.” 

He pauses for a second to consider his options. On one hand, he truly did love seeing the Mighty Nein. On the other hand, the only real reason he would have for coming over would be to ask Caleb about Find Familiar. A spell he had no real reason to use wasn’t exactly a good reason to go out. 

A voice in the back of his mind reminds him of something Caduceus had told him, something about doing things for nothing more than his own enjoyment

-

Caleb glances up at a knock at the door. He had heard Jester invite Essek over, but she had said that he wouldn’t be there for a while. It had barely been ten minutes since then. His curiosity gets the best of him, as it had a habit of doing, and he mumbles a quick “I’ll get it” to Beauregard sitting beside him.

The chimes Caduceus had put up announce the door opening, which makes it slightly more awkward when Caleb’s brain takes a second to catch up to his eyes. 

“May I come in?” Essek offers a hand, which Caleb takes.

“Jester said you were busy.” He says simply, stepping back to allow Essek in.

Essek smiles faintly, though— as subtle as it was— it seemed to light up the room for Caleb. It always seemed to light up the room for him. “I made time.” 

“You have a habit of doing that.” Caleb jokes, still not dropping his hand. 

“For you? What choice do I have?” Essek’s head bows slightly as his feet touch the ground, and Caleb takes the chance to press a quick kiss to his forehead. 

The two of them look up as footsteps come down the stairs. Fjord smiles at them as he enters the room. “Essek, always nice to see you.” Quick smiles are exchanged, along with a pat on the shoulder from Fjord. “Caduceus is making dinner.”

“So I heard.” Essek responds, and conversation fades to an idle chat as they wait for food to be finished.

“You don’t have to do this.” Essek insists, resting a hand on Caleb’s arm. Caleb was in the process of setting up a Find Familiar spell for Essek, though Essek had said a thousand times that he could go out and get everything he needed for it tomorrow.

“I know.” Caleb insists, placing a hand on top of Essek’s. Caleb had said a thousand times that he had the time and money to spare, especially for a familiar. 

Essek sighed, shaking his head slightly. He knew he didn’t have much of a chance of convincing Caleb otherwise, and even if he did, he knew Caleb was smart enough to not expend resources he couldn’t afford to miss. Caleb’s caution annoyed him sometimes, if only because it meant he knew he couldn’t argue against gifts or nice gestures. 

“You have to do it from here.” Caleb’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “If I continued, it would just change Frumpkin’s form.” 

Essek nods, taking the materials Caleb hands over and following both the written spell and Caleb’s verbal assistance. 

An hour and ten minutes later, there’s a small white owl fluttering around the room. Caleb summons Frumpkin, and he smiles as he watches the two. His smile made even the Lucid Bastion seem dull to Essek. 

“Did you have a name for them?” Caleb asks softly, scratching Frumpkin behind the ears. 

Essek smiles to himself as the owl lands on his shoulder. “Not quite yet,” he answers, turning to Caleb with a gentle smile, “would you help me pick one?”

Caleb smiles at him, and looking back at it, Essek thinks that he could spend hours and hours sitting and talking about this simple spell so long as Caleb looked at him like that every once in a while. 


End file.
